We are proposing to study the surface material of the bladder mucosa. Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) positive material that is diastase fast has been described in the lining mucosa of the urinary bladder. We have obtained material from the surface of the human bladder by irrigation and from postmortem specimens. This material was analyzed by DEAE sephadex chromatography and the fractions we obtained were further characterized by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The first major peak on DEAE sephadex was positive for alcian blue and produced a major band on PAGE at 55,000 daltons that was PAS positive. Antisera prepared to this major peak on DEAE sephadex containing this large molecular weight substance (55K) has been used to localize the material on the bladder by immunohistological techniques. One aim of the study is to carry out studies of the chemistry of bladder surface material (BSM). In preliminary studies there have been variable amounts of other low molecular weight material associated with the BSM at 55,000 daltons. The BSM will be further purified by molecular sieve chromatography. Resulting material (55K) will be used to produce antibody to examine the bladder mucosa by immunohistology using light and electron microscopy to determine the location of BSM in normal human bladders. The location of the antigen will be compared with the location of granules containing glycoproteins in the epithelial cells as seen in histochemical staining in light and electron microscopy. A second aim of the study is to examine the amount and qualitative differences of BSM in bladder wash material from patients with normal bladders, bladders with infection, neoplasia of the bladder and interstitial cystitis. The long term aim of the study is to determine the significance of the bladder surface material in relation to disease of the bladder. The significance of these studies to health care is that the measurement of the BSM in the urine would permit studies of quantitative and/or qualitative changes in BSM in urinary tract infection and a number of diseases of the bladder, including interstitial cystitis and neoplasms of the bladder. If diseases are associated with alteration in the quantity or quality of BSM it may be possible to develop methods to increase or alter BSM. BSM may influence the attachment of bacterial to epithelial cells or protect the bladder from other agents. Quantitative or qualitative changes in BSM may occur with neoplastic changes in the bladder and could be used as a diagnostic test in cancer detection.